


Paper Trails

by bjfic_archivist



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Canon, No Slash, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-13
Updated: 2007-04-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 10:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12079581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bjfic_archivist/pseuds/bjfic_archivist
Summary: Written for a lyric meme. Justin sees through Brian.





	Paper Trails

**Author's Note:**

> Note from IrishCaelan, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Brian_Justin_Fanfiction_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in September 2017. I posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjfic/profile).

oh, the sad curl and smear of baby spit, i said yes but i did not agree to this   


Gus lies heavy and still in Brian's arms, eyes closed and breath faint ( _just like a sculpture when he sleeps_ , Lindsay says, and she's right). It's not what he expected, this piece of flesh and bones, this living creature that is and isn't his all at the same time.  
  
Everyone seems so happy, and so sincere and so fucking prepared that he can't help but feel disingenuous. Like whatever he's doing isn't enough. Like he's not feeling enough.  
  
He doesn't think this will ever go away, this feeling that everyone can see right through him. It's not something he's used to. At first he avoids being with Gus when someone other than Lindsay is around, and later Justin slips under the radar as well. They have the same blind adoration that, in his mind, would make it impossible for them to see what's supposed to be there but he's certain isn't.  
  
He expects Lindsay's doting and cooing, but Justin catches him by surprise. After a night of some quite spectacular fucking Brian finds a sketch of Gus stuck to the fridge, and it's with magnets he most certainly didn't buy. He only glances at it long enough to take it down; he doesn't need to be reminded of what his son looks like. He thinks the disappearance of Justin's art should be a rude enough awakening. But sketches keep appearing, as if even the stressed penciled depictions of his son are entitled to a spot in his life.  
  
He keeps ridding himself of the drawings, and Justin keeps making them. The papers have worked themselves up to a guest starring role in his day-to-day when Brian notices a change in subject. The first time he spends more than a few seconds looking the newest addition to Justin's ever growing Gus Peterson-Marcus collection, Gus isn't alone.  
  
Brian eyes the paper that contains a version of himself holding his son gently, as if the boy were made of glass, his drawn self with a look resembling awe. If he didn't know Justin only drew what he saw he'd think this was a fantasy piece of epic proportions. Even though he's not sure whether he's been projected upon or seen right through, his skin crawls slightly at the sight of the portrait.  
  
Despite his unease, it's the only drawing that doesn't end up on Lindsay's fridge, and the first of many things to find their way into Brian's only lock adorned drawer.


End file.
